Read 2 Kings 23.
Imagine! The king called for a national gathering so he could read the word of God to the people. Next, Josiah made a public promise before the LORD to live for Him and obey His word "with all his heart and all his soul" (v.3). Then, all the people joined King Josiah in that covenant.
This was followed by putting the word of God into practice. They rid the country of all the trappings of the many false worship systems. They cleansed the nation of the immoral and despicable practices done under the guise of religion. There was no more tolerance of things that directly violated the word of God.
Because of the spiritual nonsense, the nation had not celebrated a Passover for many, many years. But King Josiah reestablished the prescribed celebrations and true worship of God.
It is noteworthy that this did not change God's pronouncement of national judgment because of all the sin in the past. The Babylonians were gaining strength to conquer Assyria and then take Judah captive. Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Neco of Egypt.
Josiah left a wonderful epitaph: "Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him" (v.25).
We all decide each day how our lives will be spiritually evaluated. I have joined Josiah in this covenant. How about you?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
God's Word is Powerful
Read 2 Kings 22.
After years of abuse and misuse of the Temple in Jerusalem by the previous two kings, Josiah ordered repairs and renovations to be done. As the workmen tore into the job, the High Priest discovered a copy of "the Book of the Law"; probably the first five book of the Old Testament. It was taken to the King Josiah who asked that it be read to him.
Apparently, it had been years since anyone had heard the word of God. As the king listened, he realized how the nation had forsaken God and how far the nation had moved from all that God expected of them. He also realized that judgment for their disobedience would come. He literally tore his clothes in anguish and sought godly counsel as to what to do.
It is interesting that with all the other notable prophets in Jerusalem at the time, such as Jeremiah, that they sought out a woman with a prophetic gift named Huldah. She confirmed that "disaster" would come upon the land of Judah because of all the years of false worship. However, to Josiah God stated that it would not happen in his lifetime "because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard..." (v.19). Josiah was promised peace and protection from the judgment of God.
Reading, hearing, memorizing, meditating, applying and obeying the scriptures produces life-changing results. The Bible is not a book of history, unattached from 21st century life. Indeed, it is the key to life now and eternal life.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8
After years of abuse and misuse of the Temple in Jerusalem by the previous two kings, Josiah ordered repairs and renovations to be done. As the workmen tore into the job, the High Priest discovered a copy of "the Book of the Law"; probably the first five book of the Old Testament. It was taken to the King Josiah who asked that it be read to him.
Apparently, it had been years since anyone had heard the word of God. As the king listened, he realized how the nation had forsaken God and how far the nation had moved from all that God expected of them. He also realized that judgment for their disobedience would come. He literally tore his clothes in anguish and sought godly counsel as to what to do.
It is interesting that with all the other notable prophets in Jerusalem at the time, such as Jeremiah, that they sought out a woman with a prophetic gift named Huldah. She confirmed that "disaster" would come upon the land of Judah because of all the years of false worship. However, to Josiah God stated that it would not happen in his lifetime "because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard..." (v.19). Josiah was promised peace and protection from the judgment of God.
Reading, hearing, memorizing, meditating, applying and obeying the scriptures produces life-changing results. The Bible is not a book of history, unattached from 21st century life. Indeed, it is the key to life now and eternal life.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The High Cost of False Worship
Read 2 Kings 21.
Just because the father is a godly man and pleases the LORD does not guarantee that his children will be. Even with the best upbringing each person must come to faith in God as an individual. We see that graphically played out here. Hezekiah was the best king of Judah, while his son Manasseh was the worst.
Manasseh's evil amounts to a long list of paganism and satanically inspired behaviors meant to destroy the nation's faith in the LORD. In verse 2, the scripture calls them "despicable practices".
-worshiped in the high places, instead of the Temple in Jerusalem
-erected altars to Baal for sacrifices to appease this made up god
-made an Asherah, a carved pole to worship a cult goddess, and set it up in the Temple
-worshiped and served the "host of heaven"-literally a multitude in the heavens. Often this refers to angelic beings, but this was astral worship of the stars and their movements as if they had some magical power or control over life. Today, this is called astrology.
-he built altars for sacrifice to the "host of heaven" right in the Temple courts
-he sacrificed his own son in an altar fire
-he used fortune-telling
-he depended on omens
-he dealt with mediums
-he turned to wizards
-shed innocent blood throughout Jerusalem
The next king, Amon, Manasseh's son, continued all these sinful practices.
These things are not forms of harmless entertainment or fanciful practices to be tolerated. Repeatedly they are called "evil" and stirred the anger of the LORD. God affirmed the prophecy of Isaiah, spoken in chapter 20, that He will bring "disaster" upon Judah and Jerusalem to cleanse the nation spiritually. He described it as one who washes out a dish and turns it upside down to dry over time.
This is an unmistakable warning to anyone involved in these false attempts at spiritualism. Disaster will come. It is also a clear call to turn to the true and living God, Maker of heaven and earth, who invites us to have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus.
Just because the father is a godly man and pleases the LORD does not guarantee that his children will be. Even with the best upbringing each person must come to faith in God as an individual. We see that graphically played out here. Hezekiah was the best king of Judah, while his son Manasseh was the worst.
Manasseh's evil amounts to a long list of paganism and satanically inspired behaviors meant to destroy the nation's faith in the LORD. In verse 2, the scripture calls them "despicable practices".
-worshiped in the high places, instead of the Temple in Jerusalem
-erected altars to Baal for sacrifices to appease this made up god
-made an Asherah, a carved pole to worship a cult goddess, and set it up in the Temple
-worshiped and served the "host of heaven"-literally a multitude in the heavens. Often this refers to angelic beings, but this was astral worship of the stars and their movements as if they had some magical power or control over life. Today, this is called astrology.
-he built altars for sacrifice to the "host of heaven" right in the Temple courts
-he sacrificed his own son in an altar fire
-he used fortune-telling
-he depended on omens
-he dealt with mediums
-he turned to wizards
-shed innocent blood throughout Jerusalem
The next king, Amon, Manasseh's son, continued all these sinful practices.
These things are not forms of harmless entertainment or fanciful practices to be tolerated. Repeatedly they are called "evil" and stirred the anger of the LORD. God affirmed the prophecy of Isaiah, spoken in chapter 20, that He will bring "disaster" upon Judah and Jerusalem to cleanse the nation spiritually. He described it as one who washes out a dish and turns it upside down to dry over time.
This is an unmistakable warning to anyone involved in these false attempts at spiritualism. Disaster will come. It is also a clear call to turn to the true and living God, Maker of heaven and earth, who invites us to have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Discipline your Reflexes
Read 2 Kings 20.
King Hezekiah of Judah became deathly ill. The only clue concerning his malady is the mention in verse 7 of a boil. One could imagine a possible infection had spread that threatened his life. God sent the prophet Isaiah with a message. This time it was not with the comforting words of "fear not" but the confirmation that the king would die.
How would this godly man respond to such devastating news? He did what he had always done. He took it to the LORD in prayer. Facing his own mortality, he talked to God with honesty and transparency about his life in verse 3.
1. He lived life by being faithful to the LORD.
2. He lived life with a whole heart for the LORD.
3. He lived life by doing those things that pleased the LORD.
This was not bragging, nor did God need reminding. Hezekiah could certainly have been saying, "After all I have done to please You and now this happens"! Godly? Yes, but human. He "wept bitterly."
Isaiah had not even left the building when God turned him around with a caveat to the message. God added fifteen years to the king's life. Note that the healing had two key parts: 1. Spiritual: this was an answer to prayer. 2. Medicinal: Isaiah prescribed a treatment plan. The confirmation on the steps is the third time in the Old Testament where God used darkness and/or daylight in a miraculous manner.
Do not miss the prophecy by Isaiah to Hezekiah in verses 16-18 that one day the Babylonians will come and take Judah into captivity.
How we respond to news that catches us off guard is usually a reflex action. We all have reflexes based upon our personalities and personal disciplines, or lack thereof. There is no discipleship without the practice of spiritual disciplines. The disciplines train our reflexes so our responses will help us to react to real life with the full integrity of our faith.
King Hezekiah of Judah became deathly ill. The only clue concerning his malady is the mention in verse 7 of a boil. One could imagine a possible infection had spread that threatened his life. God sent the prophet Isaiah with a message. This time it was not with the comforting words of "fear not" but the confirmation that the king would die.
How would this godly man respond to such devastating news? He did what he had always done. He took it to the LORD in prayer. Facing his own mortality, he talked to God with honesty and transparency about his life in verse 3.
1. He lived life by being faithful to the LORD.
2. He lived life with a whole heart for the LORD.
3. He lived life by doing those things that pleased the LORD.
This was not bragging, nor did God need reminding. Hezekiah could certainly have been saying, "After all I have done to please You and now this happens"! Godly? Yes, but human. He "wept bitterly."
Isaiah had not even left the building when God turned him around with a caveat to the message. God added fifteen years to the king's life. Note that the healing had two key parts: 1. Spiritual: this was an answer to prayer. 2. Medicinal: Isaiah prescribed a treatment plan. The confirmation on the steps is the third time in the Old Testament where God used darkness and/or daylight in a miraculous manner.
Do not miss the prophecy by Isaiah to Hezekiah in verses 16-18 that one day the Babylonians will come and take Judah into captivity.
How we respond to news that catches us off guard is usually a reflex action. We all have reflexes based upon our personalities and personal disciplines, or lack thereof. There is no discipleship without the practice of spiritual disciplines. The disciplines train our reflexes so our responses will help us to react to real life with the full integrity of our faith.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Why does God answer prayer?
Read 2 Kings 19.
Just because one lives a godly life does not give them a pass from evil, threats, hardships and losses. Hezekiah's best attempt to appease the king of Assyria only proved to increase the pressure. Hezekiah turned to the LORD in prayer and sent for counsel from the prophet Isaiah.
The message delivered to Isaiah included "distress", "rebuke", "disgrace", "no strength" and the Assyrians "mock the living God". In short, Hezekiah and his leaders had reached the end of themselves; they could not go on. They asked the prophet to pray for them. Isaiah's first response was "Do not be afraid." Then, the prophetic message came that God would cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor that will cause him to return home where he will die.
But more defiance came from the Assyrians and then the letter arrived. Hezekiah went into "the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD." His prayer was for God to see and hear what was being said. Without God's intervention, "we are destroyed." (v.18)
Isaiah's prayer and prophecy took place just as predicted. God protected Jerusalem and saved this godly king with his people. Why? Two reasons are given in v.34:
1. "For my own sake". First and foremost, God acts to protect the honor of His name and His plans. Life is not about us, but about how we bring glory to Him. When some finite human speaks against the living God, He sees, He hears, and He will act in His own time.
2. "For the sake of my servant David." King David had been dead for a few hundred years but God made a covenant regarding the royal line of David and the people of Israel. God does not renege on His commitments, nor does He change His mind. He does, however, work to change the hearts and lives of people to draw them to Himself.
Just because one lives a godly life does not give them a pass from evil, threats, hardships and losses. Hezekiah's best attempt to appease the king of Assyria only proved to increase the pressure. Hezekiah turned to the LORD in prayer and sent for counsel from the prophet Isaiah.
The message delivered to Isaiah included "distress", "rebuke", "disgrace", "no strength" and the Assyrians "mock the living God". In short, Hezekiah and his leaders had reached the end of themselves; they could not go on. They asked the prophet to pray for them. Isaiah's first response was "Do not be afraid." Then, the prophetic message came that God would cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor that will cause him to return home where he will die.
But more defiance came from the Assyrians and then the letter arrived. Hezekiah went into "the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD." His prayer was for God to see and hear what was being said. Without God's intervention, "we are destroyed." (v.18)
Isaiah's prayer and prophecy took place just as predicted. God protected Jerusalem and saved this godly king with his people. Why? Two reasons are given in v.34:
1. "For my own sake". First and foremost, God acts to protect the honor of His name and His plans. Life is not about us, but about how we bring glory to Him. When some finite human speaks against the living God, He sees, He hears, and He will act in His own time.
2. "For the sake of my servant David." King David had been dead for a few hundred years but God made a covenant regarding the royal line of David and the people of Israel. God does not renege on His commitments, nor does He change His mind. He does, however, work to change the hearts and lives of people to draw them to Himself.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
One man committed to One God.
Read 2 Kings 18.
Hezekiah proved to be the best king of Judah since the nation divided.
1. "He trusted in the LORD." (v.5) He was committed.
2. "He held fast to the LORD." (v.6a) He was faithful to that commitment.
3. "He did not depart from following the LORD." (v.6b) He lived a focused lifestyle.
4. He "kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses." (v.6c) He put the commitment into practice.
Hezekiah aggressively led the nation accordingly. He cleansed the nation of all false worship and the evil practices that went with them. The result was that God prospered him. History records that he probably lost some political friends over this, Egypt for example. He confidently rebelled against the advancing oppression of the Assyrian empire. He victoriously stood up against the local enemy of the Philistines.
In response, the Assyrians marched against Judah. Hezekiah apologized for his rebellion and paid them them in gold hoping they would withdraw. But the Assyrians did not and instead sought to force Judah to surrender.
Sennacherib sent his top aides to negotiate Judah's surrender. Their strategy was to belittle them.
Their key question in verse 19 is one every person must answer: "On what do you rest this trust of yours?"
Hezekiah's answer: "We trust in the LORD our God."
The Assyrians thought this was a stalling tactic while Hezekiah devised some worthless battle plan. The mistake of unbelievers is to think the God of heaven is just one of many faith options. That trust in the LORD is some kind of human coping mechanism with one's head in the sand. However, repeatedly the Bible declares that the LORD is the One and only true God. There are no others and certainly no human is a match to oppose the Creator.
Hezekiah prayed in the next chapter: "So, now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone." (19:19)
Hezekiah proved to be the best king of Judah since the nation divided.
1. "He trusted in the LORD." (v.5) He was committed.
2. "He held fast to the LORD." (v.6a) He was faithful to that commitment.
3. "He did not depart from following the LORD." (v.6b) He lived a focused lifestyle.
4. He "kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses." (v.6c) He put the commitment into practice.
Hezekiah aggressively led the nation accordingly. He cleansed the nation of all false worship and the evil practices that went with them. The result was that God prospered him. History records that he probably lost some political friends over this, Egypt for example. He confidently rebelled against the advancing oppression of the Assyrian empire. He victoriously stood up against the local enemy of the Philistines.
In response, the Assyrians marched against Judah. Hezekiah apologized for his rebellion and paid them them in gold hoping they would withdraw. But the Assyrians did not and instead sought to force Judah to surrender.
Sennacherib sent his top aides to negotiate Judah's surrender. Their strategy was to belittle them.
Their key question in verse 19 is one every person must answer: "On what do you rest this trust of yours?"
Hezekiah's answer: "We trust in the LORD our God."
The Assyrians thought this was a stalling tactic while Hezekiah devised some worthless battle plan. The mistake of unbelievers is to think the God of heaven is just one of many faith options. That trust in the LORD is some kind of human coping mechanism with one's head in the sand. However, repeatedly the Bible declares that the LORD is the One and only true God. There are no others and certainly no human is a match to oppose the Creator.
Hezekiah prayed in the next chapter: "So, now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone." (19:19)
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
God is not silent and does not sleep.
Read 2 Kings 14-17.
Back and forth the scriptures record the succession of kings in Judah and then Israel. There were no good kings in the north and an occasional good king in the south. Meanwhile, God's chosen people languished spiritually in an environment of false worship, including at times sacrificing their own children (16:3) to appease a mythical god. After defeating Syria, King Ahaz of Judah even tried to outdo the worship of the LORD in the Temple by building his own altar and re-purposing the furnishings dedicated to God. We read of one assassination after another for political gain.
What was God doing in response?
1. He sent prophets to preach and warn the people of their sin and the impending invasion. But they did not listen. (17:7-18)
2. He sent Jonah (mentioned in 14:25) to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, to deliver His message. Everyone there repented! (Jonah 3) With this change in the Assyrians, God could use them to discipline His people in the north. (17:21-23)
3. He was preparing the Assyrian empire to conquer Israel and assimilate the people. He would also use them to control Judah as a tributary of their empire. (17:24)
4. He had the king of Assyria send some of the captured priests back to Israel to teach the inhabitants of the land how to live according to the word of God. Amazing! (17:25-28)
The land remained in a mix of spiritual truth and myth. But this did not change God, His Word, His covenant promises, or His expectations of their lives.
5. He continued His faithful call to them to respond so He could show His power on their behalf.
"But you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." (17:39)
Back and forth the scriptures record the succession of kings in Judah and then Israel. There were no good kings in the north and an occasional good king in the south. Meanwhile, God's chosen people languished spiritually in an environment of false worship, including at times sacrificing their own children (16:3) to appease a mythical god. After defeating Syria, King Ahaz of Judah even tried to outdo the worship of the LORD in the Temple by building his own altar and re-purposing the furnishings dedicated to God. We read of one assassination after another for political gain.
What was God doing in response?
1. He sent prophets to preach and warn the people of their sin and the impending invasion. But they did not listen. (17:7-18)
2. He sent Jonah (mentioned in 14:25) to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, to deliver His message. Everyone there repented! (Jonah 3) With this change in the Assyrians, God could use them to discipline His people in the north. (17:21-23)
3. He was preparing the Assyrian empire to conquer Israel and assimilate the people. He would also use them to control Judah as a tributary of their empire. (17:24)
4. He had the king of Assyria send some of the captured priests back to Israel to teach the inhabitants of the land how to live according to the word of God. Amazing! (17:25-28)
The land remained in a mix of spiritual truth and myth. But this did not change God, His Word, His covenant promises, or His expectations of their lives.
5. He continued His faithful call to them to respond so He could show His power on their behalf.
"But you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." (17:39)
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